


Another Nail in the Coffin

by dr_ducktator



Category: Haven - Fandom
Genre: Episode 3.1, M/M, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-24
Updated: 2012-09-24
Packaged: 2017-11-14 23:17:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/520540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dr_ducktator/pseuds/dr_ducktator
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Duke can't help but hold out hope that what he and Nathan had can be revived. Now, if he could only ignore the sound of hammering...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Another Nail in the Coffin

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers for episode 3.1 and probably anything before that, just to be safe. Betaed for me by the lovely wishtheworst. Go read her fan fiction!

Duke had suspected for some time that Nathan had a thing for Audrey; after all, she was cute, smart, and obeyed the law—when it counted. He was himself rather enamored with her. Duke, however, obeyed the law when it was beneficial for him, and Nathan never let him forget that. Nathan’s inability to cope with Duke’s less-than-legal activities was probably the first nail in the coffin of their relationship. 

Nathan’s half-crazed state in hunt for Audrey removed any doubt Duke may have had that Nathan and Audrey were just partners. And that Nathan was willing to kill him for Audrey? Well, that stung. But he got it, sort of, after Nathan clued him into the whole “She’s the only one I can feel” thing. And Duke understood that Nathan was starved for physical contact; he couldn’t imagine what Nathan went through every day, no matter how many times Nathan had tried to explain it to him over the years, no matter how many times Duke tried to be the one Nathan could feel.

But what stung the most wasn’t the fact that Nathan was waving that tattoo of doom in his face; it was the hug. That fucking reunion hug. Duke’s own relief at seeing Audrey alive and in one piece was quickly hollowed out and replaced with what felt like a quick punch to the gut when he saw the look on Nathan’s face as he held Audrey. Duke counted yet another nail in the coffin of whatever he and Nathan used to be, of what he, despite his best internal protestations, hoped they could be again.

When he confronted Nathan about being in love with Audrey he saw a flash of fear in Nathan’s eyes, a moment where in Nathan’s face he saw, “This is all I can do right now. Please, Duke. Just let it drop.” And because Duke is the way he is, he’d give Nathan whatever he wanted. So he did. He helped Nathan calm down and focus. He loved Audrey as well; though it seemed not like Nathan did. Or thinks he does. So yeah, he helped Nathan. Because no one knows Nathan like he does. That doesn’t mean watching him pine over Audrey isn’t seriously fucking painful. Hammer in another nail.

To this day they fight like they did when they were together; Nathan is always self-righteous and Duke is always defensive. Usually, they’re both wrong when they argue, and usually, neither will admit it. Every time Duke knows how the fight will go: somehow Nathan will make the fight about Duke’s questionable character, Duke will remind Nathan of his hypocrisy, and they will turn away from each other in a huff. It’s the same argument over and over, just in different forms, and it’s been the same argument since the day they fell apart.

As he watched Nathan walk over to where Audrey was standing by the ambulance, he clung to the one thing he was pretty sure would console him in the face of what seemed like overwhelming evidence that Nathan is truly in love with Audrey: when Nathan confessed he could feel her touch he didn’t admit he was in love. “She’s the only one I can feel.” That’s all Nathan had said. 

Duke will cling to that, and wait until the next argument, the next longing look, the next too-close talk, the next nail in the coffin.


End file.
